If you're a fan of martial arts, feats of strength or weapon-based competition, then the World Combat Games 2023 are definitely worth tuning in for, when they begin on Friday, October 20.
US: Olympic Channel (free)
UK: Olympic Channel (free)
EU: La Liga TV | Arena Sport | Olympic Channel (free)
Watch abroad: ExpressVPN
The World Combat Games is an 11-day jamboree for plenty of different... well, combat sports, from Aikido to arm-wrestling and wrestling to Wushu. There are 16 different sports played over the fortnight.
The 2023 competition is taking place in Riyadh in Saudi Arabia, and this is the first World Combat Games since 2013, with the last two editions both canceled. That makes it only the third edition, with the Games first created in 2010.
So if you're keen to watch the World Combat Games, here's how to do so, including streaming and TV options and the sports schedule.
Watch the World Combat Games in the US and UK
You don't have to pay to watch the World Combat Games 2023 in quite a few countries around the world including the US, UK, Latin America and many European countries.
That's because the sports will be shown on the Olympic Channel, a TV and online streaming hub that lets you view loads of different sports online without any cost. You can find the Olympic Channel website here, and you can watch whatever you want once you've created a free account.
If you're in other European countries, you'll need to use Arena Sport to watch if you're based in Bosnia, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia or Slovenia. Otherwise you can use La Liga TV as well as the Olympic Channel.
Outside of Europe, the US and LATAM, you can't use the free Olympic Channel streaming. There's a vast number of streaming services that cater to certain countries that are showing the games like CEEN TV for Canada, Combate for Brazil, T Sports for Thailand and Sportsmax, BeIN Sports and New World TV for quite a few regions. Not all of these are free.
How to watch World Combat Sports 2023 everywhere else
If you're going to be away from your normal TV setup but still want to watch the World Combat Games, you might run into some problems. Thankfully, you can solve this exact issue with a Virtual Private Network (VPN).
A VPN lets you change your IP address to that of the area of what you want to watch, meaning you can tune in to your favorite shows, sports or other content even if you're not there. Our favorite is ExpressVPN, which is the No. 1-rated VPN in the world right now according to our sister site, TechRadar.
World Combat Games 2023: sports and schedule
Here are each of the 16 sports taking place at the WCG, and which days they're being played on:
- Boxing: Friday, October 20 & Saturday, October 21
- Karate: Friday, October 20 & Saturday, October 21
- Sambo: Friday, October 20 & Saturday, October 21
- Sumo: Saturday, October 21 & Sunday, October 22
- Wushu: Saturday, October 21 & Sunday, October 22
- Judo: Monday, October 23
- Wrestling: Monday, October 23 until Thursday, October 26
- Ju-Kitsu: Tuesday, October 24 until Thursday, October 26
- Aikido: Tuesday, October 24 & Wednesday, October 25
- Fencing: Wednesday, October 25 until Friday, October 27
- Kickboxing: Wednesday, October 25 until Friday, October 27
- Armwrestling: Friday, October 27 & Saturday, October 28
- Muaythai: Saturday, October 28 until Monday, October 30
- Savate: Saturday, October 28 until Monday, October 30
- Taekwondo: Saturday, October 28 until Monday, October 30
- Kendo: Sunday, October 29 & Monday, October 30
- Armwrestling: 27-28 October
- Kendo: 29-30 October
